What does that mean?

Admission Requirements

1st university degree, required qualifications according to P.O.Mehr Informationen

What does that mean?

A first recognized university degree, through which the necessary education background for the Master course of study can be proven. The necessary knowledge needed in order for studies to be successful is determined in the respective exam regulations (PO).

Proficiency in German--- Mehr Informationen ---

What does that mean?

You must provide documentation of your language skills for the language of instruction at the time of enrollment. Exam regulations.

Admission to First Semester

openNo NC

Admission to Higher Semesters

openNo NC

Dates and Deadlines

Technical Communication is an interdisciplinary course of study combining liberal arts with an engineering education and training. This course of study prepares transfer specialists who can present complex technical facts clearly, and appropriate for the target group and media.

Housed at a technology university, this course of study bridges the gap between the liberal arts and technological/scientific ways of thinking. In Germany, the Technical Communication course of study is unique in its focus and structure. It is strongly characterized by the technology orientation of the university and the integration of the Faculty of Philosophy in this context. The course includes a high percentage of engineering classes, combined with a focus on written communication and electronic media.

Students take two equally weighted subjects:
Communication Studies and one of these four technical subjects:

Fundamentals of Computer Science

Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering

Fundamentals of Materials Engineering

Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering

The Master course of study aims both at expanding subject area knowledge and methods from the Bachelor course of study, and education and training in specific subject-matter skills. In the technology subjects, students can select from specializations, and in the interdisciplinary Communication Studies they can set their own emphases. This allows the Master course of study to support the creation of individualized profiles.

The Technical Communication Master course of study is research-oriented. Students will learn to reflect on complex scholarly issues, how to obtain an overview of major subject-area issues, to quickly learn about new issues, to design solutions for problems and to apply these based on theories and models. Consequently, application-oriented perspectives are always integrated into the research-focused nature of the course of study.

The Master course of study is capped by a Master thesis in Communication Studies, which may also - at students' request - have an interdisciplinary topic.

Degree Content

Prerequisites

Personal Prerequisites
A willingness to engage in the two worlds - technology and language/communication - is an essential prerequisite for successful participation in the Technical Communication course of study. Interested applicants should have very good mathematical skills and strong linguistic skills, as well as very good knowledge of (written and spoken) German. Interest in working with texts and in engaging in a discussion of technology and communication theory issues is expected, as are self-directed work and commitment.

Formal Prerequisites
An additional prerequisite for participating in this course is a first academic degree. The required subject-area prerequisite is listed in the exam regulations. The exam committee will determine whether the prerequisites for admission have been met.

Career Prospects

This course of study aims to educate and train transfer specialists for technical facts; graduates should be able to prepare and present highly complex technical content for different target groups, media and applications. The Master will qualify participants, in addition to working in a management capacity, for academic activities, including doctoral studies.
Due to the dual qualification in linguistic mediation skills and technical knowledge, a broad spectrum of industries, career areas and jobs will be open to graduates of the Technical Communication course of study, such as:

Corporate communication and PR

Software development, ergonomics and usability testing

Media management and knowledge management

Technical documentation

Technical journalism / science journalism

Examination Regulations

Regulations that apply for all Bachelor and Master courses of study as well as detailed information about the necessary documentation of required language skills can be found in RWTH’s Comprehensive Examination Regulation. Examination regulations are only published in German as they are legally binding.

Subject Specific Exam Regulations regulate academic goals, the course of study layout, and exam procedures. The appendix to the regulations contains the description of the modules, from which the course of study is composed.

Faculty

The course of study Technical Communication is offered by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in collaboration with the faculties that offer the technical fundamentals: